Criminal Justice News

Friday, April 05, 2013

International Credit Card Trafficker Sentenced to 88 Months in Prison

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka “BadB,” was sentenced today to
serve 88 months in prison for trafficking in millions of stolen credit
and debit cards and for his role in the theft of more than $9 million
dollars from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili
Raman of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for
the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the
Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. Secret Service
Assistant Director for Investigations David J. O’Connor and Special
Agent in Charge Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

Horohorin, 30, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, was sentenced by
U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle in the District of Columbia. In
addition to his prison term, Horohorin was ordered to pay $125,739 in
restitution and sentenced to two years of supervised release.

Horohorin was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of
Columbia in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud and
aggravated identity theft. In a separate investigation, a federal grand
jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned a superseding
indictment against Horohorin in August 2010, charging him with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud. In
August 2010, French law enforcement authorities, working with the U.S.
Secret Service, identified Horohorin in Nice, France, and arrested him
as he was attempting to board a flight to return to Moscow. Horohorin
was extradited to the United States on June 6, 2012. After Horohorin’s
arrival in the United States, the two cases pending against him were
consolidated in Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 25, 2012, Horohorin pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to Horohorin’s plea agreement, he used online criminal forums
to sell stolen credit and debit card information, known as “dumps,” to
online purchasers around the world. Horohorin, using the online name
“BadB,” advertised the availability of stolen credit and debit card
information through these online forums and directed purchasers to
create accounts at “dumps.name,” a fully-automated dumps vending website
operated by Horohorin and hosted outside the United States. At the
time of his arrest, Horohorin possessed more than 2.5 million stolen
credit and debit card numbers.

Horohorin admitted that he was
one of the lead cashers in an elaborate scheme in which counterfeit
payroll debit cards were used to withdraw more than $9 million from ATMs
around the world. Hackers broke into the computers of a credit card
processor located in the Atlanta area, stole debit card account numbers
and raised the balances and withdrawal limits on those accounts while
distributing the account numbers and PIN codes to cashers, like
Horohorin. Horohorin, and those he recruited, used one of the stolen
account numbers to withdraw more than $125,000 from ATMs in and around
Moscow.

The District of Columbia case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys
Ethan Arenson, Carol Sipperly and Corbin Weiss of the Criminal
Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
Weiss also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District
of Columbia. The District of Columbia case was investigated by the U.S.
Secret Service. Key assistance was provided by the French Police
Nationale Aux Frontiers and the Netherlands Police Agency National Crime
Squad High Tech Crime Unit. The FBI Atlanta field office provided
information helpful to the investigation.

The Northern District of Georgia case is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorneys Nick Oldham and Lawrence R. Sommerfeld of the Northern
District of Georgia, and Trial Attorney Sipperly of CCIPS. The Atlanta
case was investigated by the FBI. Assistance was provided by numerous
law enforcement partners. The U.S. Secret Service provided information
helpful to the investigation.

The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs handled Horohorin’s extradition from France.